Page 114 of Dragon’s Rebel

Chapter 49

Rebel plummeted through the air, the ground rushing up to meet her. She was counting seconds: one… two…

On three, Thorne flew up underneath her and she landed on his back, her feet hitting his shoulders just between his first two spinal ridges. The fabulous tail swung forward and wrapped around her, steadying her.

“Nice work, Lizard,” she said. “I knew you wouldn’t let me down.” Thorne would always have her back, or die trying. She knew that now.

You gave me another heart attack, Thorne said.

Above her, Corwyn and the baraka shot through the portal.

“And I’m about to give you still another one. We need to follow him through that portal. I saw into it—it goes straight into Vyrkos’ tomb.”

After one shocked second of silence, Thorne wheeled around, beating his wings toward the portal. Is this what your sister saw?

“I don’t know.” Rebel sat down between Thorne’s spine ridges, straddling his neck. “But I sure as hell think we better go see.”

When they reached the portal, Thorne folded his wings to make himself as slender as possible. As soon as they were through, he snapped them open and backwinged, slowing down their trajectory. They hovered at the top of the cavern, looking down on disaster.

The cavern was filled with sorcerers and hellhounds. Tyr was diving, flaming a group of hellhounds, but more just seemed to fill the space. He was covered with wounds, and his wings were sluggish.

Blaze sagged against the wall by the brass star that held the Seals. Light streamed from her to the tomb, where Tempest was on her knees in the middle of the frozen lake, the golden idol clutched in her hands.

She was struggling to get up, but it was like there was an invisible boulder on her back. Still she strained against it, even though blood ran down her face from her nose and ears.

There were cracks in the surface of the tomb underneath her, but they weren’t getting any bigger.

It was like she was struggling to hold the whole thing together, though Rebel couldn’t see how. Zane, in human form, was fighting hellhounds and sorcerers, trying to keep them away from Blaze and Tempest.

Rebel was so busy looking at what was going on below that she didn’t see Corwyn at the top of the cavern until Thorne went after him, spewing fire.

Corwyn’s shield deflected it. Tyr finished his strafing run and winged up to hit Corwyn from the rear.

Just then, a magic missile hit Zane’s wounded shoulder and deflected off, exploding as it skimmed his temple. He staggered and went down.

Corwyn’s magically amplified voice thundered through the cavern. “Sorcerers! Deploy!”

Immediately, all the sorcerers on the ground drew flashing red jewels from inside their robes, and smashed them on the floor of the cavern.

They detonated, sending lines of magic shooting up into the air and spiderwebbing out, intertwining and forming…

A net. A spell net. And Tyr and Thorne were caught inside, trapped against the roof of the cavern.

Rebel held on to Thorne’s spinal ridge as he thrashed, trying to break through the net, but it held him like he was a moth in a spiderweb. Tyr looked panicked, trying to batter his way out.

I can’t get free,Thorne said. I’m trying…

“Be still!” The command boomed out.

Everyone froze; the whole cavern went silent. Corwyn rose slowly up on his baraka until he was level with Rebel.

He gazed at her with those demonic, fiery eyes.

“Give me the Seal.”

Rebel shook her head. “No fucking way.”

“You have no choice. You have lost.” He flicked his fingers at the scene below. “Your witch is using all her strength to shore up her one Seal. The tomb is failing. Your sister is holding back Vyrkos, but she is weakening, and when she falls, Vyrkos will rise.”